The majority of the population are in one of two stages of change. The are either in ‘precontemplation’ i.e. they are completely oblivious to the fact that training could be good for them or that they need change! They may or may not decide to EVER take part in training of any kind and this is possibly down to good genetics and the fact they don’t store fat easily.

Yay for them! Sucks for us!

Another large percentage of the population are the ‘contemplation’ stage of change. They are considering changing for the better and undergoing a transformation, albeit muscle gain, fat loss or conditioning. The problem is they have it in their head that its ‘hard’ to stay in shape. . that it’s a chore or something!

Well it isn’t. .

It shouldn’t be but the gym users have it all wrong! They have lost the drive to train! Training is fun! Training should be enjoyable . . not a chore! If you are finding it hard to motivate yourself and you are literally falling asleep lying on the bench maybe something needs to change? Change the damn workout! Do something different!

‘I’m bored stupid of this workout and getting nowhere but ill keep doing it anyway . . maybe next week I wont be bored of it’

HUH? YOU ARE BEING RIDICULOUS!

Competitive edge!

All training/’working out’ (what a lame ass term anyway . . working out WHAT? Maths? The meaning of life? Get working hard!) Train for something! Set a GOAL and strive toward it. . don’t ‘work-out’ or you are setting yourself up to be a gym creep and fail miserably. . your training should have a competitive element. Not necessarily with an opponent but compete with yourself! Your previous unconditioned/flabby/skinny self. Beat Him/Her! TRAIN harder than Him/Her! Train like an ATHLETE! TRAIN TO WIN! Working out is for chumps!

Motivational!

Get MOTIVATED! As I said above. . you will get nowhere if you find yourself standing in the middle of the gym floor sleezing on somebody with a cute ass that just walked by. .save it for when your FINISHED the session. . your mind should not wander you have a job to do! GET WORKING! Set a goal for that particular session! don’t have a vague notion of ‘someday I will get in shape’ maybe next month . . or year. . GET STARTED NOW! Or you will NEVER get in shape, you will never achieve your goals, you will never WIN!

The misconception that someone who is in shape spends everyday all day in the gym, all day doing curls and running on a treadmill is complete nonsense! The ones who are in shape are those who have a purpose. The ones that are there for a reason! The ones that have made the conscious decision to TRAIN and train HARD! GENETICS MY ASS maybe you can look ‘OK’ if you have superior genetics but in order to look ‘GREAT’ it doesn’t matter what end of the genetic spectrum they are on it demands hard work! They train hard too ya know?! The stereotype that the person in shape has no life and the common statement that being in shape is ‘not worth it’ has to abolished!

‘Its too much sacrifice’

‘its too hard’

‘I have a life’

What a load of nonsense. . so having a life is eating garbage and making a nuisance out of yourself nowadays?!

‘Obsessed is a word lazy people use to describe the dedicated’ – I don’t know who wrote it and I’m too lazy to find out

The ones in shape enjoy training, its fun to them but they do NOT over do it. . the only ones who overdo it are the ones who go for it hammer and tongs for 6 months then give up because they approached it all wrong! They didn’t take it like it is. . a change in lifestyle. A CHANGE! You don’t simply add the gym into your schedule. It becomes so much more than that but you have to make the decision first! You have to decide what you want and what you are willing to sacrifice for that ideal body you desire. It can be as simple as re arranging things in your life not taking over it. give it a go NOW not in May when it is too late and you have put on 10 pounds! The 10 pounds you put on will take a whole lot longer to lose. Make the right decision and START NOW and stop procrastinating and putting it off!

Bryan Kavanagh BSc CSCS

Click the link below to learn more about training athletically and achieving your goals!

I was browsing through the new complimentary magazine in the Irish Independent ‘Fired Up’ and i have to admit it is a great idea! I will also admit to not being a big GAA fan but there are some points i would like to make that i feel could be improved upon. My beef was mainly with the nutritional/diet section on p13.

Oh Dear. . . now i may be a little biased coming from a Boxing and Tae-Kwon-Do back ground but WHAT THE HELL!?

Is this the GAA weight gain diet? Do the players WANT to gain 20lbs of fat this season?

I know, I know athletes need their calories. . but honestly . . you do not need to take in 3000 kcals to recover from a session that maybe burned 500. . its going to spill over and be stored as fat! I know GAA isnt an aesthetic sport but who wants to gain fat? I guess my main problem is that the author is trying too hard to avoid the inclusion of supplements. This is fair enough because most of the supplements out there are pure S**te and the uninformed are probably better off away from them altogether. But then it gets messy! The above nutritional programme is FAR from optimal and my apologies for being antagonistic here but giving a blanket recommendation is a little irresponsible in the first place but giving one like this. . with this many ‘hidden’ calories, a big thumbs down from me!

Not to mention the nutritional plan is far from optimal. I wouldn’t mind if your average GAA player was eating this ‘healthy’ diet. .but athletes?! One portion of vegetables in the day? Salad ROLLS? Dairy coming out of their ears? I know for a FACT that the majority of athletes (im talking like 7/10) DO in fact eat like this. . and to a certain extent and short term they get away with it. They will perform on par and underperform in most cases. And then there is a separate article on page 20 on burnout and lethargy. Hmmm I think I can make the connection here.

Sub optimal pre and post workout nutrition Boat loads of Dairy scattered throughout the day About 300g of carbs scattered throughout the day with no real ‘purpose’ (yes i am aware of glycogen replenishment etc and no you DO NOT need protein to maximise absorption of protein)* I know this is supposed to be a ‘pro- protein’ and anti supplement article and I appreciate that! Fair play to the author for acknowledging the need for protein in recovery from sport. Most antelope nutritionists still stand by the 1g/kg bodyweight and claim that too much protein is bad.

Major problem 1:

Yogurt pre training. . yes there is protein in yogurt but it is not digested fast enough and will actually delay gastric emptying (stomach emptying) and leave a nice dollop of yogurt in the players stomach for training. . not nice.

Major problem 2:

‘Slices of toast and margarine and jam’. . . ‘Ham and cheese salad rolls’. . . I shouldn’t have to answer this one! Even of they are brown rolls/toast they are garbage! JAM!? That’s pure unadulterated sugar. Margarine? . . Use real butter please! Margarine contains less fat alright but every last bit of it is hydrogenated nonsense. Get the real stuff, its better for you. The excess calories in here are astounding! Not to mention the ridiculous ‘insulin spike’, resultant fat storage and lethargy an hour later. Leave it out. . get an UBER big egg salad plate with lots of meat into you. You’ll be full of life! No burnout in sight!

Major Problem 3:

Yop and sports drink after and only water during training. . these are inter-county players we are talking about. . they are top of their game! Their performance and recovery needs to be OPTIMAL. A good protein/amino acid/electrolyte (salts) and carb mix sipped DURING training will accelerate recovery leaps and bounds thus preventing the aforementioned ‘burnout’.

Personal Trainer Dublin

Hi, My name is Bryan Kavanagh and I am a personal trainer from Dublin, Ireland. I currently work out of my personal training studio in Temple bar, Dublin City Centre. Click here to read about my personal training studio.

I have worked as a personal trainer for over a decade and I never fail to deliver amazing results.

I have had a lot of success working with people one-to-one as a personal fitness trainer but the problem is I want to help everyone that will listen! This isn’t like other personal trainer websites. I intend to help as many people as possible that have questions about routines, nutrition and lifestyle management or anything regarding fitness training.

Comment on the posts! Ask questions and I will post/reply to them! This isn’t a company site or anything, just me! Ask, ask, ask!